Paul Marion
Paul Marion is one of Murkoff's former mitigation officers who worked alongside Pauline Glick, known collectively as The Pauls. Background Paul was born in Cincinnati, Ohio and passed the state bar exam in 1987. Story Paul is first seen trying to enter into an FBI office. He is heavily bleeding and is told by a security guard to put his hands up. Marion is reluctant and says he needs his hand to stop bleeding for the heavily inflicted wound on his face. When the guard repeats his actions, he reluctantly removes his hand and his right eye comes off with him claiming shock that he can still see from the detached eyeball. Later on, Paul is seen telling his story to an FBI agent. He wants to admit the culpability of Murkoff and their inhumane crimes in both Mount Massive and elsewhere. Before he could finish the first account of his what led him to confess, a doctor comes in to say that if they don't get him to the operation theater he may have potential brain/memory damages. Paul refuses to still leave without getting his account done stating that perhaps forgetting would be a blessing. Paul talks about his working relationship with Pauline Glick. They are litigators for Murkoff and are nicknamed "The Pauls" by their department for fun. Paul does commend Pauline's work seeing that she has good deduction skills and is able to solve cases pretty much by the book. Their first case involved Chris Walker. Pauline rightfully deduces that the murders happening in a company owned by Murkoff, that gives therapeutic services to war veterans, was done by the person in charge of security. This person happened to be Chris Walker. When staking out Chris Walker's home he suddenly walks in on them. Seeing that the duo has his childhood toy, "little pig" who he is very attached to, he attacks them. Paul tries to control the situation by shooting Chris in the face which only angers him to more violence and he is saved by Glick running Chris down with her car. Marion explained that a Muslim veteran was charged with Walker's crimes and put away for them whereas Walker is taken to Mount Massive as a subject for experimentation. When asked by the agent why he kept on working for Murkoff, knowing they are unethical, Paul revealed that his daughter has a rare blood disease and Murkoff is the only company that makes experimental medication for that disease which he gets for his daughter in return for his services. Their second case involves Rick Trager. Trager is a philanderer who has inappropriate relationships with the female staff at Mount Massive, including his own personal assistant, and Waylon Park's boss, Michelle. After Michelle becomes pregnant he repeatedly pressures her to have an abortion, causing her to leak sensitive information about the company to get the litigators' attention. Pauline Glick decides to investigate Trager by going on a date with him, and once they go back to his home he tries to drug her with Rohypnol. Pauline recognizes this by the bitter taste of her drink and coerces Trager, at gunpoint to his privates, to drink his own concoction. She calls Marion, who quickly comes to pick her up. They then go to interrogate Michelle, who reveals Trager's apathetic nature. Marion convinces Glick not to simply fire her but to give her and the pregnant personal assistant a decent severance package for their unborn children. Though, later on Glick reveals that these were false pregnancies due to the women's proximity to the Morphogenic engine. Glick knew some aspects of the Walrider project as Jeremy Blaire revealed them to her, asking Marion to step outside as this went above his clearance level. The situation implied that Murkoff trusted Glick more than Marion and their partnership was never completely an equal one. Glick mentions that Paul never knew that he was also her "target" though the specifics of this context is never fully disclosed in the comics. Glick and Marion eventually have a face-off with the Walrider. They go to investigate Billy Hope's mother. When Pauline reveals that Billy's mother sold him to Murkoff for experimentation, despite Billy having no illnesses, an enraged Billy reveals himself. As the Walrider, he kills his mother and then attacks Glick and Marion, prompting them to blow up Billy's mom's trailer park home. During this case, Pauline shows she has the upper hand on Paul, as he seems a bit frustrated asking her questions and realizing that she knows things that she won't reveal. Though he accepts this as part of his job and decides to help her. After the trailer park is burned down he tells the agent that he had suspicions that the Walrider wasn't dead and that the case was far from over. Their investigation finally leads them to Simon Peacock. Peacock, a former Murkoff employee believed to be dead, had helped Waylon and his family escape. Paul and Pauline are shown to be at Peacock's funeral, implying that maybe Murkoff got rid of him. Glick and Marion decide to defame Waylon's leaked video of Mount Massive by stealing his identity and uploading bizarre articles on the internet so people will look at his evidence with skepticism. They are also tipped off when Miles Upshur's bank account is emptied out and go to his residence. A neighbor states that Miles has been away for a long time but came back the night previous. She mentions that her dogs, who were usually friendly with Miles, barked at him as he entered the house. Inside, Marion and Glick find no evidence of anyone residing there. However, they find a strange email containing Walrider-infested ants as an attachment. Marion and Glick try to brush them off but they quickly become swarmed, prompting them to take off their clothes and get into the bathtub and turn on the shower. This does not help so they finally strip down and run out of the house and set it ablaze. Outside the house, Paul sees a shrouded homeless man that he recognizes from Colorado. Still in his underwear, he chases after the man. The man turns out to be Simon Peacock, a former Murkoff employee who now assists whistle blowers like Waylon Park. Pauline comes after them with a gun and fires at Peacock to stop him from escaping. They both notice, when Peacock swipes at them, that he looks like he has corroding flesh but is somehow still alive. This is when Marion and Glick start going their separate ways. Peacock gives Paul coordinates to the outskirts of Temple Gate. He lies to Pauline and tells her that he is taking time off for his daughter so he can investigate. As he approaches the perimeter of Temple Gate, he begins having visions of his dead wife. He is temporarily transported to the day his wife died in the hospital. When he comes back to the present he sees a member of The Testament of New Ezekiel fleeing with Anna Lee, Ethan's daughter, who takes Paul's gun and questions him. Trying to reason with the man, Paul says "Jesus Christ," enraging the man because Paul took the Lord's name in vain. Paul gets the gun away from him and is able to pacify the cultist for a moment, only to have the man attack him with a knife. Paul shoots him in self defense but this prompts Anna Lee to run away from him in fear. Paul then hitches a ride with a family as he needs medical treatment. Glick meets him at the hospital, and is upset with Paul for going behind her back and following Peacock's leads. Anna Lee is brought to the same hospital where Paul is being treated. Paul sees a tattoo of a cross with two intertwining wheels on an unconscious Anna Lee's chest. He says that he has seen this in the bible as "the countless wheels of Ezekiel", and upon hearing that name Anna Lee goes into shock and starts having an epileptic fit. Marion goes to call the doctors, but Glick feels that Anna Lee is a liability and strangles her to death. When Paul goes home he sees that his daughter has been kidnapped, and one of her fingers has been chopped off, with the words "You work for us now" written in blood on her bedroom wall. He is eventually abducted by Peacock, who reveals how religion imprinting works just as well as the Morphogenic Engine does in finding hosts for the Walrider. It's suggested that because of his daughter's kidnapping he turned against Pauline which resulted in them having the shootout that severely wounded him. Personality Paul Marion is compassionate and kind compared to the ruthlessly calculating and indifferent nature of Pauline Glick, which earns him the nickname "creampuff". He loves his daughter so much that he overlooks the terrible things Murkoff does so that he can get the medicine for her rare blood condition. He also shows kindness in requesting a severance package for Michelle and Trager's personal assistant, beleiving they were victims rather than liabilities. He is revolted by Trager's behavior and writes a secret note to Glick saying that Trager is "dirtier than hobo shit". Furthermore, despite his lower security clearance, he takes it upon himself to investigate leads even when Glick won't assist him. Physical description Paul is depicted as being a stocky man with curly hair and blue eyes. He frequently wears a white shirt, yellow tie, black pants, matching shoes and belt, as well as a black leather jacket. Following an unknown event, Marion received a severe wound on the upper-right side of his head, leaving him with a bandaged face. Trivia *In the comics, Marion's the only character with clearly defined eye color. This might be a symbolic representation of Paul being one of the few people with any sense of morality within the Murkoff Corporation. References Navigation Category:Characters Category:Murkoff Account Characters